S.R. Karfelt's Blog, page 28
July 18, 2014
Glittercaso - Art of the Sleepless

"I Miss Crayons"

"Naps"

"Doodle"

"Modern Life"

"Snout"

"Shoulding"

"Coyotes Keep Me Awake"

"Railroad Trestle"

"My Left Foot"
Published on July 18, 2014 11:33
July 8, 2014
The Chimp Paradox

The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Program to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence, and Happiness by Steve Peters was one of my vacation reads. Huddled under the mosquito netting deep in the bush, wildly waving a type of tennis racket that emits an electrical shock to annihilate mosquitoes; it’s very easy to believe that there is indeed a portion of my brain called The Chimp.
Nope, not much of a stretch at all. My chimp was occupied doing a type of 21st Century bug picking. The writer, Steve Peters, explains that he’s very much simplifying the human brain while exploring the psychological mind. He cuts it into three main parts to start. The idea is that we all have a limbic brain—an emotional machine he refers to as the chimp—and a human brain—maybe best summed up as higher thinking—and also what he refers to as the computer part of your brain—think of that as information and facts. You yourself are the human, your chimp is the emotional thinking machine, and your computer is your storage and automatic functioning machine.
You know how sometimes you’ll be in two minds about something? Apparently that’s because you really are. Both the human part of the brain and the chimp receive information and they each interpret it. The chimp goes with feelings and impressions, pretty much basing its conclusion on assumptions, hunches, paranoia and defense. The human searches for facts and truth and logic. So obviously they don’t see eye to eye on everything. To further complicate matters the chimp is the stronger part of the brain. So wrestling with your chimp is futile.
Think about it. How well do you fare if you’re out to dinner, super hungry, and your first impulse is the order a cheeseburger although you know you should have a salad? Sometimes the salad wins, but think about the process that goes into that. A salad is healthier, your human brain thinks. The chimp is going Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! The human can counter with an argument: The doctor will put me on meds to lower my cholesterol if I don’t control my eating. The chimp might not like meds, or extra doctor trips to make sure those meds aren’t harming its liver, it might listen to that. If you’ve already established that scenario. Since I don’t have high cholesterol, my chimp just keeps shouting for the cheeseburger and is now eyeballing a chocolate shake too. My pants are too tight, the human says, and I hate tight jeans in the summer! Plus it looks terrible, and red meat makes me feel sick later. That worked for me, especially since I read through the tasty ingredients in a salad and caught my chimp’s interest.
What really caught my interest and held it throughout this book were the suggestions for ways to control the chimp—ways to get what the human wants and needs while keeping your chimp happy. It was a bit

This book also made me watch other people with more interest as I watched for their chimps. I give it four thumbs up, two from my human, and two from the chimp. It never hurts to try to figure yourself out, especially if you’re struggling with fear, addiction, or simply trying to get where you want to be in life.
A shout out to Jade for telling me about this book. I don’t know why he thought of me in reference to The Chimp Paradox, but my chimp is encouraging me not to ask. As for the rest of you, please let me know what your inner chimp thinks about this take on the brain. I’d love to hear from you!
Published on July 08, 2014 13:52
July 2, 2014
Souvenir Survival 101

There are two kinds of people in this world, those who buy souvenirs and those who don’t. Usually the first kind are parents and they’re at Disney without their kids and consumed with guilt. That is why they spent $10.50 on a Mickey Mouse shaped pencil for their kids. (Mommy can’t help it if the conference is next to Disneyland, and she only went to watch the fireworks because her boss made her. #MeanBosses #GuiltPurchase)
After running this idea through The Glitter Globe for about twenty seconds, I’ve concluded that 80% of all souvenir purchases are purely guilt purchases. Business travelers will back this up, I’d bet. Because here is what happens when you return home from a business trip:Things happened and you weren’t there. You suck.I don’t care if you were in Cleveland; you were off having grown-up fun. You suck.Spare me your horror stories about the cruddy hotel you stayed at. You were at a hotel! You suck.Oh, poor baby, you’re sick of eating out every single day? You suck. Have some Kraft Mac and Cheese.You had to drive a rental car through Chicago during rush hour every day? You were in Chicago! You suck.You brought me a shower cap from the hotel? YOU SUCK.
The thing is I’ve been on both ends of the travel spectrum. I’ve been the parent at home with the vomiting children, and once the kids got old enough to clean up their own vomit, I got to be the traveler. This way I knew what to expect upon my return, so I was wise enough to be a souvenir shopper. This is what I learned about that:Things happened and you weren’t there. You suck.You were off having grown-up fun. The Keep Austin Weird T-Shirt ain’t gonna fix a thing. You suck.A cruddy hotel can require a decade to recover from. But you still suck for going there. (Always check Trip Advisor for hotels. Just. Do. It.)You do get sick and tired of eating out every single day. Take fat pants for the return trip. You suck and now you’re fat.You drove a rental car through Tucson and it was a convertible. #MyBad You suck and you don’t even care.You brought me an expensive necklace from Brighton at some random airport? Thanks, but you really still just suck.

Published on July 02, 2014 04:00
June 30, 2014
Bandwagon Jumping

Everything is blurry because there’s coconut oil on my eyeballs. About a year ago I jumped on the coconut oil is good for everything bandwagon. It’s a soft white solid that melts in your hands, and I’m pretty sold on it. So far these are the uses I’ve discovered for coconut oil:Cooking. It’s an oil/butter even.Moisturizer. Tré cheap. Best I’ve ever used.Hair oil. Very. Little. On. Your. Hair.Make-up remover. Avoid. Eyeballs. (It doesn’t hurt, just annoying.)A jar from the cooking aisle works for everything. I prefer organic, because I jumped on that bandwagon too.
Speaking of the organic bandwagon, do you buy organic? I prefer to because I truly believe the mantra garbage in garbage out. That doesn’t mean that I don’t eat garbage, because I do and my jeans will testify to this fact. If you see me at the grocery store, you’ll see a cart full of:Organic fruitsOrganic VegetablesOrganic RiceOrganic Whole GrainsOrganic Cereal—the kind you need a set of wooly mammoth teeth to chew, but you won’t get hungry again today if you eat ½ cup of it.Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, because you only live once.A family size bag of SmartCorn. #Let’sPretendThisisPartofAHealthyDiet #ItProbablyWon’tLastTheNight
If you spend a few hectic days visiting you’ll find that meals also consist of:Panera salads—after a rough day nothing tastes as good as food someone else made fast. You know it’s true.Rice Krispy treats I made for the kids and they didn’t finish, so all bets are off. #MomProblemsEither mine or one of the kid’s emergency dark chocolate stashes. It happens. #WhatKindOfMotherStealsChocolate?Take-out from wherever the heck someone wants it and I don’t really care what it’s made out of when I run out of energy inside a pile of paperwork. #RealLife
I’m on the hashtag bandwagon too, btw. #ItShows.#EasilyEntertained#ItDoesn’tTakeMuch#NoPunctuationorApostrophesinHashtags#Don’tTellMeWhatToDo!
Not to mention the Acronym Bandwagon:FYILOLFR – I heard that LOL is the top lie on the Internet, so I add For Real.Do you make up your own acronyms? I like GGP instead of BRB.
For awhile I was on the extreme sports bandwagon. Since bruising my tailbone during a mud run (yeah, I was the one on top the fifteen foot mudslide screaming Don’t Be a Girl) I’ve all but lost interest in extreme sports. (She says from a rustic cabin deep in the bush because extreme vacations rock it.) My new extreme sport activities now include:Walking my ten thousand healing steps deep in the wilderness.Swatting mosquitoes.Tripping over tree roots.Swatting black flies.Scratching.Being the first person down a path every morning which gives you the spider web yoga-like freak out stretch. #It’sAThing #GetItOffGetItOffDoing the bear-track/moose-track identification and worryduring aforementioned walk.Finding out that it is actually baby birds you ought to worry about, because their Mamas do not appreciate your admiration. #TheBirdDodgeIsNotADanceMove #BirdsAreRaptors #BelieveItForcing everyone in the fishing boat to hit the deck every time you cast. #SorrySorry #SpazFishing #It’sAllIGot

The best part about bandwagon jumping is you can jump on or off any time you like, just tuck and roll on that exit. Is jumping off the bandwagon an extreme sport? Feel free to share your bandwagons, or add to mine. I’d especially like it if you’d make GGP a thing or #SpazFishing.
Published on June 30, 2014 09:07
June 24, 2014
Secret Hideaways For Introverts


Yes. I’m an introvert, and in case you think that means anti-social, puh-leeze, girlfriend/guyfriend—think again by going to this link!
Usually I don’t like to share my secret hiding places, they’re secret! Go find your own! But on second thought, maybe you’re an introvert who needs one, so here are some ideas if you’re desperate for a place to hide and recharge in.


Is that any help at all? If you’d like to share some secret hiding place ideas, please do because I’d enjoy investigating fresh possibilities. Do you need alone time? It might

Published on June 24, 2014 06:00
June 18, 2014
Granola Girl

Whenever I make a fresh batch of gorp, I text a picture of it to the person who first introduced me to it. We call it gorp—but that’s just another term for trail mix. There really isn’t a recipe for it, although it all starts with granola.
gra-no-la definition noun NORTH AMERICAN a kind of breakfast cereal consisting typically of rolled oats, brown sugar or honey, dried fruit, and nuts. derogatory denoting those with liberal or environmentalist political views, typified as eating health foods. modifier noun: granola
We’re concerned with the first definition of granola for this. You can make your own and eliminate the sugar altogether. Sometimes I do that, you bake it, and you can use maple sugar or honey, or whatever to sweeten it if you like.

The idea of gorp is to turn your granola into food that is portable, filling, and nutritious. It’s whatever works for you, and I’ve modified mine over the years, and I also change it up depending on where it’s going. If it’s going to end up in the desert, it’s better not to put anything in that might melt. If it’s going on a rough hike, I make sure I add plenty of ingredients with protein and some salt.
Measuring and following recipes isn’t my thing, so I doubt I’ve ever made the same batch of gorp twice. For this particular batch I didn’t make my own granola. I used a store brand granola cereal, Wegmans to be precise. If you’ve never been inside a Wegmans, you’re missing something. It’s like the Disneyland of grocery stores.
This particular batch of gorp took four boxes of almond granola. Since it didn’t have raisins, I added those.

Everything I added to the next step of the process was organic and raw if possible: sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, dried cranberries, dehydrated green apples, and banana chips. The banana chips weren’t unsweetened for this batch, because my guys don’t like them. It looked like this, nutritious and fairly healthy.

I had to use two giant bowls because I was making a huge batch. If I was making this for myself, I’d add some organic coconut, cocoa nibs, and probably dark chocolate almonds and stop here.

Next is where I modified it for who wants it. If you’re into really healthy eating, hide your eyes because this is where things get sweet. I put in yogurt covered stuff (raisins, nuts), several types of M&Ms (Peanut, mini-baking ones, and peanut butter), Reese pieces because the recipients are big into peanut butter, a type of Boston Baked Bean candy, dark chocolate covered raisins and almonds, and a handful of spelt sticks.




So what do you think? Would you go healthy or not? What would your ideal gorp consist of?
Published on June 18, 2014 12:56
June 6, 2014
Raptor Jerky

Dear Hubby’s appendix quit. Between you and me I can’t really blame it. If I was fed a diet of some lunch meat called Old-Fashioned Loaf and Meat Jerky, I’d quit too. (Notice I said Meat Jerky? He’s not a persnickety man. If Slim Jim made Raptor Jerky he’d be all over that.) Anyway, he’s healing up nicely now, after a miserable week in the hospital. He’s also encouraging everyone to get their appendix out before it turns on them. I’m planning to keep mine and continue feeding it a healthy diet of field greens and chocolate to keep it purring along and doing whatever it is that appendixes do that no one can figure out.
My buddy, Angel, says that appendixes are like souls, you really can get by in this world just fine without them.
Speaking of souls, some Jehovah Witnesses just stopped by. It really says something about the solitude of writers when I greet these women with enthusiasm. Real People! Yay!
Lately I’ve been writing a story to be included in an anthology that will be published later this summer. The proceeds of the book will be given to cancer charity—a most worthy cause. I’d been working on that and fell asleep in my office the night that Dear Hubby staggered into the room and woke me up with, “Hon, I need to go to the Emergency Room.”
You are probably aware it is possible to go from zero to sixty on the scale of consciousness without hitting any of the digits between those two numbers. In all the years I’ve known DH he’s never said those words. This is a man who functions with broken bones for weeks before finally succumbing to a doctor and X-ray. How many times have I watched him wiggle a hand or foot back and forth while saying, “If it were broken, I wouldn’t be able to do this!” Since he only has one speed in life (a speed which can only be summed up as Nads Out) he considers broken bones a consequence of living. As I child-proofed our house after the birth of our first born, DH said, “Broken bones are part of childhood.” Wait, what? Not unless you’re having a movie of the week childhood!
After rousing me to warp speed mentality, the ride to the nearest hospital in my Time Travel Jeepwas a slow and miserable one for him. Maybe now he’ll get to work on that Stargate, because it would have come in handy. By the way you might want to negotiate some sort of deal with your appendix so it doesn’t turn on you during a holiday weekend. You don’t want to arrive at the hospital when everyone obviously has way better things they could be doing. You also don’t want people trying to get to the hospital to see you to get stuck in a parade.

When I say stuck in a parade, I don’t mean stuck behind it either, or being rerouted around it. On my way to visit DH, post-surgery, I ended up in a Memorial Day parade right behind the kilted men with bagpipes. That is not such a bad place to be, if you ever get stuck in one. I mean it has its perks. But I was in my Jeep, and I was totally wrecking the whole Scottish theme. The worst part of that experience is not the police part. They saw and ignored me, because frankly I’m not sure they could figure out how the heck I got there anymore than I could. The worst part is now I have to go back to my Time Travel Jeep book and once again insert another scene before getting it to you, because face it, there are things in life just begging to be immortalized in fiction. Am I wrong?
Published on June 06, 2014 09:06
June 5, 2014
Cover Reveal: The Ter’roc Evolution
Just because you never know what you’re going to get when you shake up a glitter globe, today I have something new and artsy to show you!
We’re revealing the new beautiful cover designed by Blue Harvest Creative for The Ter’roc: Evolution, an epic science fiction novel about an ancient race of aliens that created the human species thousands of years ago. Steeped in science, historical fiction, philosophy and biology, this book introduces an intriguing new dimension to our own world and worlds beyond.
And now…the reveal
In 3,
2,
1…

ABOUT THE BOOK
This novel is a continuance of the most popular story from Ruins of the Mind, the science fiction anthology of short stories written by Jason P. Stadtlander and published in June of 2012. The Ter’roc: Evolution is the first in a three-part series which contains references to ancient structures such as the pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge and more, but reveals the larger purpose behind these structures steeped in mystery—purposes often wondered about but never before revealed.
When a teenage tomboy named Shawn ventures into a storm drain near the railroad tracks in Swampscott, Massachusetts, she stumbles upon more than a few blue glass pieces she is foraging. She comes face to face with Sam’loc of the alien ter’roc species, the initial link to discovering ancient hidden truths and a key revelation concerning humanity’s past. This initial face-to-face with Sam’loc draws Shawn unexpectedly into a world never before encountered—knowingly at least—by others. In the process, she is called upon to challenge more than she ever thought possible and rises to the occasion in ways she never expected.
The ter’roc and ishkan are ancient alien species which seeded the Earth with humans tens of thousands of years ago. These two species have remained hidden, however, watching over and guiding us unobtrusively when needed. Only now are they making themselves known to help defend Earth against a threat too powerful for humans to fight alone.
Along the way, we will find that there is much more to humanity than simply being human.
Published on June 05, 2014 06:15
May 23, 2014
Brain Problems!: Meet the Author: S. R. Karfelt (and her books, too...
Brain Problems!: Meet the Author: S. R. Karfelt (and her books, too...: Greetings, readers! I have a very special guest here today. Her name is Stephanie, but when she writes, we know her as S. R. Karfelt. (B...
Published on May 23, 2014 10:44
May 19, 2014
Writer’s Process Blog Tour

This writer has been invited to participate in Project Bacon. At least that’s what I’m calling it. It’s a sort of six degrees of separation for writers that author, LaDonna Cole, turned me onto. Sharing ideas on the writing process serves to both inspire and make us not feel so weird. If we’re all weird together, we’re normal. Hey, that is my new motto, and all thanks to LaDonna Cole, author of The Torn, writer extraordinaire of books about the dangers of quantum physics.
Last week LaDonna wrote a blog about her writing process and introduced three authors. One of them was me. Today it’s my turn to expose some of my glittery skeletons, and to introduce you to three pretty amazing writers that you may not have yet had the pleasure of knowing.
When you ask a writer to talk about their writing process, someone is bound to do the Dr. Evil finger quotes in the air. Just try to stop them. This is probably because we all have our own way of writing. It’s like how do you make potato salad, or of the six remotes on your coffee table how does one go about actually turning your TV on? Today I'm going to answer four questions about my writing process, and a week from now my featured authors will do the same about their writing process, on their blogs.
So let the writing process questions commence!
What am I working on? Oh, the pressure! My last novel released yesterday, give me a break. Seriously though, it was actually released last week and I’ve already written 150,000 words of the next book in the Warrior of the Ages series (this is actually true, just not since last week). I’m considering having giant stickers made up that say But I’m writing a novelto slap on dust bunnies and weeds. Instead of sleeping enough or tending to housework, I write a lot. There were many years when I couldn’t write much at all, and I’m making up for lost time.
How does my work differ from others of its genre? My genre is Action Adventure with a Twist of Fantasy. My work is different, I’ll admit that. It tends to straddle lines. The Warrior of the Ages series is spiritual without being religious. It can be sad and funny sometimes in the same paragraph. It can be both literary and light. There are some romances that don’t fit any mold, in my opinion real romances aren’t stereotypical. My work has a hard time fitting into a genre. I think that alone makes it different within any genre it tries to squeeze into.
Why do I write what I do? Perhaps it is selfish, or perhaps it is self preservation, but I write what thrills and intrigues me. If I’m going to spend months working on a story, I want detail, depth, and characters that I either enjoy or love to hate. The Warrior of the Ages series is something I wrote and allowed my fingers and the muse to control. I write stories that grab me and refuse to be ignored.
How does my writing process work? Frankly I can be obsessive. Total immersion is how I write. When I’m writing a story it’s usually close to the surface, even during rewrites scenes are often close by. That means I’m thinking about it when I’m walking, working out, falling asleep, and waking up. I devote as much focus to getting the first draft done as possible—although admittedly I do reread scenes and tweak as I go. It works for me. I like to work and rework a scene while I have the muse’s attention on it. I also tend to research as I go. After the WIP is finished, I reread and rework it to a more reader friendly story. It goes to beta readers for comments, and I tend to rewrite scenes again with many of those comments in mind. It’s a process. There is nothing fast about book writing. After that it goes to the editor for redlining and another few go-around’s, story edits and line edits.

W. Franklin Lattimore is the author of the Otherealm Saga, beginning with Freedom Fight. Freedom War and Freedom Zone are complete and going through final edits, with Freedom Cry, his WIP. His former involvement in the occult as a teenager was the springboard for writing the Otherealm Saga. His novels are written, not just as entertainment, but as wake-up calls to those dabbling in, curious about, or heavily active in witchcraft and other "spiritual" activities. OtherealmLife.wordpress.com

Parker J. Cole is a writer and radio show host who spends most of her time reading, knitting, writing, cooking, and concocting new ideas for stories. Her first novel, Dark Cherub, won Best of Spring Reading 2013 from eMediaCampaigns. She lives in Michigan with her husband and their beloved dog, Sarah. Blog Link: thewritestuffradio.wordpress.com

Jeff writes both mystery and time travel in a refreshing and unique way, and I have no idea how he gets it all done, but I’m just glad he does. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, you’re going to want to jump on over to Amazon and check Jeff’s books out.
Jeff has been a language arts teacher and coach for nearly twenty-eight years. He’s a Michigan native with a beautiful wife and two awesome kids. Loving the Rain is his first suspense novel in the Clay and Tanner Thomas series. The second, Skeleton Key, and the third, Bulletproof, are paranormal mysteries. Jumperis a time-travel, action/adventure. Jeff loves competing at sports, connecting to good books, and creating words that make people laugh. The Red Pen blog link: http://jefflaferney.blogspot.com/
Published on May 19, 2014 07:16